Happily, I watched the Community Shield in its entirety and it really whet the appetite for the upcoming season. Chelski looked pretty flat in the first half as Man Ure started the game in style, but those roles were largely reversed in the second half. While Chelski could never be described as high-flying, they have a solid determination about them that will be hard for most teams to overcome. Based on Sunday’s performance, Utd have the opposite problem; as they up the tempo, some cracks start to show.

I have to believe (along with most of the free world) that we were looking at England’s top two teams, and over the long haul I have to give Chelski the nod. It appears as though last year Liverpool showed teams how to beat Vidic, and Ben Foster was positively shocking in goal—could this be a problem with van der Sar getting on. SAF’s quadruple sub in the second half had little effect, with creaking old timers Giggs and Scholes proving to have no real influence, except the former missing his penalty. I can’t help but wonder if age now outweighs experienced for Man Ure’s elder guard, and whether that might prove to be a liability over a long season where Utd must expect to challenge on all fronts. Ancelotti looks to turn Chelski into a compact, durable unit that will grind out low-scoring wins. But it has to be one of these two, dunnit?

There’s little harm in predicting the final standings, so here it goes:

Again, I say look at the bottom ten teams in the table and you tell me how excited you are to see any of these match-ups. For some reason, the “best league in the world” tag does not square with half of the table being populated by dire teams.

Also, I think Josie Altidore’s loan to Hull is terrific for both of them. Altidore needs games and he hasn’t been getting them in Spain, for whatever reason. Phil Brown hasn’t been able to attract a virus to Hull, meaning Altidore should be right at the top of the pecking order for first-team strikers. I think Hull will go down, but remember this is a loan deal, so Jozy won’t go down with them unless he signs a permanent contract, which I hope he doesn’t do. This is also quickly becoming a make-or-break season for Altidore. The Premier League will not be easy for him, but as long as he gets his games in, it will be an invaluable learning experience.

And do you think AC Milan is regretting signing Gooch after a couple of good displays at the Confederations Cup? Me too.

Current Mood: Tired |